Ligand Enters Into Worldwide OmniAb® Platform License Agreement With xCella Biosciences
May 30 2017 - 9:00AM
Business Wire
Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:LGND)
announces it has entered into a worldwide license agreement with
Menlo Park, California-based xCella Biosciences, Inc. Under the
license, xCella will be able to use the OmniRat®, OmniMouse® and
OmniFlic® platforms to discover fully human mono- and bispecific
antibodies. Ligand is eligible to receive annual platform access
payments, development and regulatory milestone payments and
royalties for each product incorporating an OmniAb antibody. xCella
will be responsible for all costs related to the programs.
“This agreement provides xCella with access to the OmniAb
platform, an industry-leading technology for the discovery of
fully-human antibodies,” said John Higgins, Chief Executive Officer
of Ligand. “There continues to be strong partnership interest for
the OmniAb platform within the antibody-discovery community, and
Ligand plans to continue to efficiently leverage the technology to
generate fully-funded shots on goal.”
About xCella Biosciences
xCella is a protein engineering and drug discovery company based
on intellectual property originally developed at Stanford
University in the Stanford Photonics Research Center and the
laboratory of Dr. Jennifer Cochran in the Stanford Department of
Bioengineering. xCella’s proprietary platform enables high
throughput screening and engineering of proteins based on
functional activity, presenting unprecedented opportunities for the
creation of novel therapeutics and other protein-based assets. In
addition to its internal drug discovery program, xCella has entered
into partnership agreements with leading pharmaceutical and
biotechnology companies to develop best in-class protein-based
assets in key strategic areas of interest.
About OmniAb®
OmniAb includes three transgenic animal platforms for producing
mono- and bispecific human therapeutic antibodies. OmniRat® is the
industry’s first human monoclonal antibody technology based on
rats. It has a complete immune system with a diverse antibody
repertoire and generates antibodies with human idiotypes as
effectively as wild-type animals make rat antibodies. OmniMouse® is
a transgenic mouse that complements OmniRat and expands epitope
coverage. OmniFlic® is an engineered rat with a fixed light chain
for development of bispecific, fully human antibodies. The three
platforms use patented technology, have broad freedom to operate
and deliver fully human antibodies with high affinity, specificity,
expression, solubility and stability.
About Ligand Pharmaceuticals
Ligand is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing or
acquiring technologies that help pharmaceutical companies discover
and develop medicines. Our business model creates value for
stockholders by providing a diversified portfolio of biotech and
pharmaceutical product revenue streams that are supported by an
efficient and low corporate cost structure. Our goal is to offer
investors an opportunity to participate in the promise of the
biotech industry in a profitable, diversified and lower-risk
business than a typical biotech company. Our business model is
based on doing what we do best: drug discovery, early-stage drug
development, product reformulation and partnering. We partner with
other pharmaceutical companies to leverage what they do best
(late-stage development, regulatory management and
commercialization) to ultimately generate our revenue. Ligand’s
Captisol® platform technology is a patent-protected, chemically
modified cyclodextrin with a structure designed to optimize the
solubility and stability of drugs. OmniAb® is a patent-protected
transgenic animal platform used in the discovery of fully human
mono-and bispecific therapeutic antibodies. Ligand has established
multiple alliances, licenses and other business relationships with
the world's leading pharmaceutical companies including Novartis,
Amgen, Merck, Pfizer, Celgene, Gilead, Janssen, Baxter
International and Eli Lilly.
Follow Ligand on Twitter @Ligand_LGND.
Forward-Looking Statements
This news release contains forward-looking statements by Ligand
that involve risks and uncertainties and reflect Ligand's judgment
as of the date of this release. These include statements regarding
Ligand's license agreement with xCella under which Ligand may
receive annual platform access payments, milestone payments and
royalties (which, as used herein includes royalty-like payments
based upon the development and commercialization of any products
based on antibodies discovered under the license). Actual events or
results may differ from our expectations. For example, there can be
no assurances that xCella will successfully develop or market any
antibodies discovered under the license. The failure to meet
expectations with respect to any of the foregoing matters may
reduce Ligand's stock price. Additional information concerning
these and other important risk factors affecting Ligand can be
found in Ligand's prior press releases available at www.ligand.com
as well as in Ligand's public periodic filings with the Securities
and Exchange Commission, available at www.sec.gov. Ligand disclaims
any intent or obligation to update these forward-looking statements
beyond the date of this press release, except as required by law.
This caution is made under the safe harbor provisions of the
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
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version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170530005357/en/
Ligand Pharmaceuticals IncorporatedTodd Pettingill,
858-550-7500investors@ligand.com@Ligand_LGNDorLHABruce Voss,
310-691-7100bvoss@lhai.com
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